“It is about prevention and not just treatment after the event, what more can be done through schools to try and reduce the levels of self-harm through well-being programmes.

“I’m aware that the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service has undergone a recent redesign, and in my view the redesign will only be judged a success once the number of children presenting at A&E for self-harming starts to fall.”

The full figures show the number of children admitted to A&E due to alcohol or drug abuse, eating disorders and self-harm.

In 2012 there were a total of 627 admissions; in 2013 there were 739; in 2014 there were 919; and there had been 516 admissions so far this year by the end of July.

This year, there have been a total of 22 alcohol-related admissions, 295 drug-related; 198 incidents of self-harm and one child admitted due to an eating disorder.